Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that stablecoin issuers maintain sufficient backing assets to protect consumers and financial stability.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
On 29 April, HM Treasury published draft legislation for the future financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets.
The draft legislation includes a new regulated activity for stablecoin issuance in the UK, meaning firms carrying on this activity will need to be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority.
The Government is seeking to bring forward final legislation before the end of this year.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has made an estimate of the number of individuals who intend to leave the UK following the ending of Business Asset Disposal Relief.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
No estimate of the number of individuals who would leave the UK if Business Asset Disposal Relief (BADR) were to be abolished has been made.
The government recognises the important role that small businesses and entrepreneurs will play in boosting Britain’s growth. That’s why BADR has been maintained with a generous lifetime limit of £1 million, and BADR rates increases have been phased in over 18 months to give business owners time to adjust.
You can find statistics on the number of claimants, amounts of qualifying gains and tax charged at the BADR rate in table 4 of the Capital Gains Tax accredited official statistics.
Capital Gains Tax statistics - GOV.UK
You can also find an estimate for the cost of BADR in the cost of non-structural tax reliefs statistics:
Tax relief statistics - GOV.UK
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, on the potential impact of changes to cash ISAs on mortgage costs.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Treasury does not prepare forecasts for the UK economy. These forecasts, including assessments of the impact of policy decisions on the macroeconomy, are the responsibility of the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
The OBR does not typically publish estimates of the impact of individual policies. Instead, the net effect of the government’s policy package is assessed by the OBR.
The Government is looking at options for reforms to ISAs that get the balance right between cash and equities to earn better return for savers, boost the culture of retail investment, and support the growth mission. The Government recognises that cash savings play an important role in helping households build a financial buffer for a rainy day.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of changes to cash ISAs on (a) house prices and (b) mortgage costs.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Treasury does not prepare forecasts for the UK economy. These forecasts, including assessments of the impact of policy decisions on the macroeconomy, are the responsibility of the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
The OBR does not typically publish estimates of the impact of individual policies. Instead, the net effect of the government’s policy package is assessed by the OBR.
The Government is looking at options for reforms to ISAs that get the balance right between cash and equities to earn better return for savers, boost the culture of retail investment, and support the growth mission. The Government recognises that cash savings play an important role in helping households build a financial buffer for a rainy day.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the (a) development and (b) delivery of the Digital Gilt Instrument programme supports UK-based firms; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of that programme on (i) domestic innovation and (ii) sovereign capability in digital financial infrastructure.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is taking forward its digital gilt instrument (DIGIT) pilot which will be issued onto a platform within the Digital Securities Sandbox (DSS). Eligibility for the DSS requires that firms must be legally established in the UK, and therefore DIGIT will be issued onto a UK based DLT platform.
With this pilot, the Government has two key aims: to explore how distributed ledger technology (DLT) can be applied across the lifecycle of the debt issuance process; and catalyse the development of DLT in UK financial markets. The department is making ongoing assessments to design and deliver DIGIT in support of these aims.
In April the government issued a market engagement notice for the pilot digital gilt instrument (DIGIT) to understand both the current landscape of services available or in development in the UK and what potential investors want to see from a DIGIT issuance. This included questions for industry as to how DIGIT could be developed and delivered in such a way as to meet these objectives, which the department is currently analysing and incorporating into its ongoing assessments.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of adopting the common domain model standard in the Digital Gilt Instrument programme; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of doing so on the (a) interoperability, (b) automation and (c) transparency of that programme.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
In April the government issued a market engagement notice for the pilot digital gilt instrument (DIGIT) to understand both the current landscape of services available or in development in the UK and what potential investors want to see from a DIGIT issuance. This included questions aimed at understanding how important interoperability and other design features would be for meeting the project’s objective to catalyse the growth and adoption of DLT in UK financial markets.
The department is in the process of analysing responses to inform the design of DIGIT ahead of issuing an invitation to tender in the coming months.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department is taking steps to align the Digital Gilt Instrument programme with (a) the common domain model and (b) other international standards.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
In April the government issued a market engagement notice for the pilot digital gilt instrument (DIGIT) to understand both the current landscape of services available or in development in the UK and what potential investors want to see from a DIGIT issuance. This included questions aimed at understanding how important interoperability would be for meeting the project’s objective to catalyse the growth and adoption of DLT in UK financial markets.
The department is in the process of analysing responses to inform the design of DIGIT ahead of issuing an invitation to tender in the coming months.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions her Department has had with institutional market participants on the adoption of (a) tokenised sovereign instruments and (b) associated standards.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
My team regularly engages with the sector on issues relating to tokenisation in UK financial markets. In addition, we have had further discussions with participants in relation to our digital gilt instrument (DIGIT) pilot.
The Government is taking forward its DIGIT pilot which will be issued onto a digital securities platform within the digital securities sandbox (DSS). In April, the government issued a market engagement notice and is currently analysing responses ahead of launching an invitation to tender in the coming months.
Following the deadline for responses, my team has held constructive discussions with a range of industry groups and participants who responded and attended an industry roundtable hosted by UK Finance. This engagement with the market has provided valuable information to inform how a DIGIT pilot can help catalyse the adoption of DLT across UK financial markets.
The Government remains committed to working with the sector on tokenisation and the pilot DIGIT issuance, to effectively catalyse the adoption of DLT in UK financial markets.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to regulate open banking under the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The National Payments Vision, published in November, set out the government’s ambitious plans for the next phase of Open Banking, building on the UK’s leadership in this area. This includes steps towards delivering seamless, Open Banking enabled, account-to-account payments.
The government intends to use powers in the ‘Data (Use and Access) Act’ to put in place a long-term regulatory framework for Open Banking. This will also secure the foundations for Open Finance, by establishing the necessary oversight functions within the FCA to regulate ‘Smart Data’ schemes.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to consult on bringing forward legislative proposals to introduce open finance under the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The National Payments Vision, published in November, set out the government’s ambitious plans for the next phase of Open Banking, building on the UK’s leadership in this area. This includes steps towards delivering seamless, Open Banking enabled, account-to-account payments.
The government intends to use powers in the ‘Data (Use and Access) Act’ to put in place a long-term regulatory framework for Open Banking. This will also secure the foundations for Open Finance, by establishing the necessary oversight functions within the FCA to regulate ‘Smart Data’ schemes.